The Wunderkind
by disturbedgrave
Summary: She is not elf, nor Druid. She is not human nor witch. She is not what you expect...for Wunderkinds are a species all their own. And she is coming back to Narnia.
1. I Am a Magnet

I wrote this a long time ago, but deleted it on request of the main character. Recently, she's regretted forgetting and is making me write it all over again. So here it is again. I hope it's better this time around.

* * *

Dedicated to my own Wunderkind.

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Narnia related nor do I own the Wunderkind song.

* * *

"I want out." Miranda Leryn Turlington demanded of her nurse, batting the hand holding the syringe away. The nurse ignored her as she always did and proceeded to grab Miranda's arm, finding the right vein quickly. Miranda groaned unhappily as the nurse shot the medicine into her. "I hate that!"

"Well, one would think that a grown girl like you wouldn't make such a big fuss about it." said the nurse in retaliation. She was used to Miranda's behavior and attitudes. "And you'll be lucky if they let your parents back here today after that scene in the examination room."

"I'm sick of being treated like a pincushion." Miranda grumbled, kicking at the stiff sheets. "They don't have the right to tell me what's wrong with me when it's completely natural."

The nurse bit her tongue to keep her opinion quiet. But she couldn't help but think it as she cleaned up Miranda's bedside medicine table. '_Green skin is most certainly not natural, child.' _Miranda Turlington had been a patient of this hospital for as long as the nurse could remember. It hadn't really been noticeable at first, but as each year went by, her skin had gotten greener and greener, until it was the shade of emerald green that it was now. No-one understood it; her parents were normal, her siblings were normal. Her blood was a bit on the thin side, but healthy. Brain scans, CT scans, all had revealed naught but a healthy teenage girl. But...that green skin...

The scene in the examination room had been only the latest. After insulting all of the doctors and experts sent to examine and evaluate her, Miranda had then brained the hospital's leading physician with his own clipboard. At least she had only used a clipboard this time...

"Today's my birthday, you know." Miranda's loud announcement snapped the nurse back to the room.

"Happy Birthday, then." she said, starting to set up the heart monitors that were always used at night.

"I'm sixteen now." said Miranda quietly, almost to herself. "On your sixteenth birthday, you're supposed to get a car. I'm lucky if I get chocolate pudding with my issued dinner."

"Stop complaining, at least you're alive and being treated well."

"I have every right to fucking complain!" Miranda shouted, throwing her hospital-issued mug at the wall. It bounced off, being merely plastic. "I'm stuck in a freaking hospital for something that I can't bloody control! Nothing's wrong with me, I'm FINE!!"

"What has been said to you about cursing?" said the nurse, wiping the berry juice from the wall and picking up the cup.

"Fuck you." muttered Miranda, sinking into the bed, hugging her small stuffed cat to her. "Fuck the so-called experts, fuck the medicine, fuck this hospital." She grabbed her iPod, stuck her earbuds in and proceeded to drown out any forth-coming lectures about her foul mouth.

The nurse sighed and finished up, leaving quietly. She did hope that Miranda's family would come that night. Perhaps they would be able to cheer her up some.

Miranda looked up as the door closed, cutting off the harsh hallway light. She huffed, turning down the volume on her iPod. She knew Rebecca didn't deserve being yelled at, but she was the only one who seemed to listen to her. All the other nurses treated her like she was five, the doctors treated her like a hysteric and no-one seemed to care about what she wanted. She wanted out; out of this hospital, out of this city, out of this state...just out. She wanted to travel, see the world, taste the salt of the oceans, smell the cherry blossoms in the air.

She had a folder full of brochures of different places: Paris, Texas, Toyko, Hong-Kong, L.A, Orlando, England, Ireland, Switzerland, Moscow...too many places, too many things to see and do. She wanted to see and do them all. She pulled up her international playlist and proceeded with her favorite Irish ballad, the playlist set on shuffle.

She started awake a while later when her door was opened by a shouting twelve-year old boy who then dashed over to her bed and performed a flying leap up onto it and on top of her.

"Jacob!" she protested with a laugh, grabbing him and hugging him. "What did I tell you would happen if you did that again?" He squealed as she then tickled him mercilessly, her mother and father laughing as they entered with Jacob's twin sister and elder brother in tow. Jacob squirmed away and bounced on the end of her bed, laughing.

"Happy Birthday, Mira." said her elder bother, Thomas, as he set his small gift-bag on the table next to her. He reached over and gave her an affectionate slug on the shoulder. She laughed and slugged him back, grinning broadly.

"Thanks, guys." she said gratefully as her parents also laid gifts on the table. "Today's been a bitch."

She was instantly bopped upside the head by her Father. "No cursing, it isn't a good way to talk, baby girl."

"Daaad, I'm sixteen now. I'm not a kid anymore." she said with a smile at him, knowing that he cursed like a sailor when he was on his job-sites. Lizzy, the other twin, climbed up on the bed next to Jacob. Together they mobbed their Mom, begging her to let Miranda open their present.

"Only if she wants to." said their Mother, sitting in the chair by the window with a laugh. Jacob and Lizzy turned their puppy-pouts to Miranda, turning up the big sad eyes until she caved with a laugh. A brightly wrapped parcel was thunked in her lap, Jacob and Lizzy hovering eagerly. Miranda opened the gift, pulling out a white sundress, flowing and simple. She grabbed her twin siblings up in a tight hug, laughing.

"It's gorgeous, guys. Did you pick it out all by yourselves?"

Jacob and Lizzy nodded, proceeding to tell her how they had spotted it while shopping and listed off all the colors of the dresses that had been on the rack. Miranda listened to the excited chatter as she unwrapped an iTunes giftcard, a pair of silver gem-stubbed earrings, a little glitter-lamp wall plug-in, three new books and a DVD. She organized everything in neat stacks and realized that she hadn't opened Thomas's.

As soon as she picked it up, she could feel the tension and excitement build in the room. This was a big one... She looked about at everyone staring at her eagerly and very slowly pulled away the tissue paper to pull out a long box. She pulled the ribbon off the box and looked at Thomas again. He gave her a nod. Off came the lid and she screamed with joy.

Nestled in the velvet lining were two plane tickets, to Rome. "ROME?!" she screamed, leaping from her bed to tackle her brother with a hug. "ROME?!" Her mother and father laughed and cheered, nodding.

"That's right, Mira." Thomas grinned at her. "We're taking a vacation, you and me, to Rome in about a month or two. Mom and Dad already arranged it with the hospital."

Miranda looked about at her family and for the fourth time in her life, burst into tears.

* * *

Late that night, Miranda finished updating her iTunes music library, having plumped it up with old favorites and a few suggestions that she liked. She put on one of them, "Wunderkind" by Alanis Morissette. She looked out of her window at the night sky above the city. She could actually make out a few stars. She looked at the clock quickly. 11:09. Just in time.

'_I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment, I am a Wunderkind. And I live the envelope pushed far enough to believe this. I am a princess on the way to my throne. Destined to serve, destined to roam...'_

She located the brightest star in the sky, kissed her fingertips and lifted them to the star. Just a few more seconds.

'_Oh ominous place spellbound and unchild-proofed, my least favorite chill to bare alone._'

Now.

'_Back-pocket secret, our bond full blown.'_

"I want out." she wished as the clock turned to 11:11, on her sixteenth birthday. Her very soul ached for freedom. "I want _out_..."

'_I am a pioneer naive enough to believe this. I am a princess on the way to my throne._'

Miranda leaned back on her bed, putting her laptop away for the night, her music still ringing. She...felt rather dizzy. It was weird. Too much excitement she supposed.

'_Destined to seek, destined to know..._'

She coughed, then fought to reclaim her breath. What the fu-? She coughed violently again, struggling to cease and catch her breath.

'_Most beautiful place reborn and blown off roof, my view about face weather, great will be done._'

Water split all over the floor, her issued cup rolling under the bed. She panicked, she couldn't stop coughing and now her limbs were shaking-!

'_I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment, I am a Wunderkind!_'

Her iPod was flung across the room as her body jerked uncontrollably, the music still blaring from the headphones. She fought for breath, no longer coughing. Her heart-going too fast!

'_I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment, I am a Wunderkind!_'

Her flailing hand finally managed to hit the call button, her alarm going off as her heart rate soared out of control.

'_I am a Joan of Arc and strong enough to believe this. I am a princess on the way to my throne.'_

Miranda suddenly stopped moving, gray-blue eyes wide with shock and panic, her fingers twitching slightly as the last breath left her lips.

'_Destined to reign, destined to roam..._'

The star twinkled in the sky, proud. Her wish had come true.

'_Destined to reign, destined to roam..._'

Miranda Leryn Turlington was gone from this world.

* * *

Second part coming soon. Thank you and please review.


	2. All Kinds of Deeper Wonderment

I wrote this a long time ago, but deleted it on request of the main character. Recently, she's regretted forgetting and is making me write it all over again. So here it is again. I hope it's better this time around.

* * *

Dedicated to my own Wunderkind.

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Narnia related nor do I own the Wunderkind song.

* * *

Cold...it was cold. And wet? Why was it wet? Miranda stirred, shivering in the biting cold. This was really weird. Was the air conditioner on the fritz? Why hadn't they woken her up, then? Cold she could stand but not wet. Ugh. She sat up and her blanket fell off in clumps. She froze and felt around, her hands coming into contact with nothing but powdery coldness. She slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by a world of white. Blinking rapidly, she quickly made out the dark tree trunks that surrounded her, everything else, as much as she could see, was covered with white.

Snow?

Snow...she wasn't in the hospital anymore. Hell, she didn't even think that she was on Earth anymore. The air smelled different. Wilder, if that was a smell. She slowly picked up a handful of snow and very lightly licked it. Pure. Absolutely pure snow. She dropped the melting snow and stood, the white falling off of her easily. She dusted off her pants, staring at them when she realized they weren't her pajama bottoms. They were white canvas pants, with a flared leg. As white as the snow...she instantly grabbed her shirt, pulling it out to get a good look at it. It was the same white, feeling like a mixture of silk and a stronger fiber. Long sleeved, the cloth clung to her yet moved with her as well.

"Holy sh*t." she breathed, staring. What had happened? One minute she's in the hospital, making a wish on a star and the next- She sat back down hard when she remembered what had happened. She didn't want to remember it, didn't want to even think about it, never-! She let out a yell as flames erupted from her hands, nearly scorching her. She shoved them into the snow, heart rapidly pounding.

What the Hell was going on?! She remained how she was, hands deep in the snow. "Am I crazy...?" she muttered into the open air, trembling. "I have to be...this isn't possible. Not fucking possible!" she shouted, suddenly feeling something bump against her chest as she yelled. She pulled her unharmed hands from the snow and grabbed it. It was a necklace. A golden disk on a golden chain. There was a design of green stones (looked like emeralds, but were most likely glass or plastic, really clever imitations too) set into the disk. As she stared, they moved. They danced in a pattern before her eyes, sparkling, whirling-- Panicked, she yanked at the chain. She yanked again. And again. She desperately looked for a clasp, spinning the chain about swiftly. There was none. And she couldn't pull it over her head.

She let out a blue-streak of curse words and general frustration, kicking and punching at whatever she could. Panting, she sat on a large rock jutting out of the snow, head falling into her hands. "Where am I?" she muttered hopelessly, staring at the white all around her. "Where the hell am I?"

Her ears perked at a sound in the still woods. It was muffled but drawing nearer. What- ...Jingle bells? Like Christmas bells? She looked in the direction of the bells. They were coming closer. Finally, someone to tell her what was going on and where the fuck she was! She leaped up and started in the direction of the bells. She stopped when she heard the whip cracks. They sounded cruel...She didn't like them. A sudden instinct told her to hide. She battled with the feeling for a few moments before a loud "Move, you useless animals!" sent her scrambling up a tree. She climbed up rather high, pausing on a branch, looking down.

A sleigh pulled up nearby, an elegant one of silver and gold, with four magnificent white reindeer pulling it, their harnesses jingling merrily. The sound warred harshly with the whip cracking over their backs; the whip in the hand of the driver who...was apparently a midget with a huge beard and beady eyes. Had to be a dwarf. He shouted something at the animals as the rider sat impassively in her seat. Miranda stared, this woman was...terrifying. Beautiful, from the angled face to the slim hands; cruel from the icicle crown to the sharp and cold scepter grasped in her hands. Miranda thanked her inner senses for making her hide.

She froze on her tree branch as the woman raised her hand. The sleigh pulled up to a quick halt, the dwarf looked back at her. "Yes, your Majesty?"

The Queen then pointed her scepter at the disturbed snow and kicked-at rocks. "What is that?"

The dwarf looked and shrugged. "No idea, Majesty? Animals?"

The Queen stood, stepping off her sleigh. "No, too large."

"Centaur?"

"Too small. Be quiet."

"Yes, Majesty."

Silence filled the wood. The Queen seemed to be listening intently. Mira felt the branch begin to bend underneath her. She gripped the tree, trying to distribute her weight evenly, but the branch just continued to bend. "Please don't..." she mouthed silently, clinging hard to the tree. The branch seemed to even out. She gingerly put a little bit more weight on it (her arms were killing her) and the branch broke underneath her.

She tumbled to Earth with a yell, landing hard on her butt in the snow. She nearly hit her head but it was cushioned by the deep drift. She looked up into face of the Queen sheepishly.

"Who are you?" The Queen asked, eyes narrowed.

"Mira." Her mouth said automatically. "Who are you?"

"I am the Queen of Narnia, child." The Queen's cold eyes took in Mira's skin color. Mira glared.

"That's rather rude, ma'am." she said moving to stand. "I'm not a-HEY!" The Queen's scepter had shoved her down again.

"I did not say that you could rise."

Mira glared angrily, her gray eyes becoming tinged with red. "I don't need your permission to get up, bitch."

"I am the Queen of Narnia, you will-"

"I am free-born personage, and I won't bow to a bitch." She shoved the scepter to the side and stood. "See ya-" She dodged a stab with the scepter. "Hey!"

"Silence." said the Queen as she made another stab, the end of her scepter (whoops, wand) glowing. Miranda dodged out of the way, and took off.

"NEVER!!" she shouted, laughing to herself as she dashed through the snow. She didn't know why she was laughing...a mixture of fear, adrenaline and the knowledge that that Witch could probably kill her very easily...Where the heck was she going? She kept running, especially when she heard the jingle bells started up again. Not good. Really not good! She just kept running through the trees, taking a turn here or there, she didn't know. The bells kept getting louder, getting closer.

"Go faster!" she yelled at her legs in frustration, pressing them harder. She forced her legs, moving faster. The trees suddenly dropped away and she skidded to a stop, barely in time to keep herself from falling off of the bank and into the ice of the frozen river below. She realized that she was trapped, the river was wide. And the bells drew closer, the whip cracks echoed off the trees. It was a long shot...but she had to.

She backed up a few feet, then a few more feet. Then a few more just to be sure. She took off running as fast as her feet could carry her. "YEEEEEEEEEAHHH!!" she shouted as her feet left the river-bank as she leaped. She closed her eyes as she rose up, up up...and started to fall. _No, not yet-!_ Something happened. She felt something happen in her as wind suddenly picked up about her, lifted her and bore her across the river. The wind released her and she fell to the snow below, tumbling until she came to a stop.

She slowly sat up and stared at the river, at the air, at her landing spot. What-? Jingle bells.

She burrowed into the snow, hiding her black hair and green skin underneath winter's blanket. The bells stopped on the other side of the river. She tried to still her pounding heart.

"Where is she?" The Witch's voice echoed as she demanded her dwarf to look around. A few minutes passed as Miranda heard the dwarf shuffling about in the snow, grumbling to himself.

"Not here, your Majesty. Must've fallen through the ice." said the dwarf finally. "No-one can cross the Great River that fast."

"If she is what I believe her to be, she would have done it."

"Majesty, no mere Druid could possibly-"

"Be quiet, Ginarrbrik." she ordered. The bells tinkled very lightly, hiding what the Witch said next. "Drive on!" The whip cracked harshly and the bells jingled away, fading out into the woodlands. She waited a few more moments before lifting her head from snow, shaking the clinging flakes from her eyes. What had that Witch said? Something about her not being human or...Druid, apparently. But she was. Wasn't she...?

She held out her hand, unsure of what would happen. Nothing happened. She shook her hand. Nothing happened again. "Oh, com'n. Do what you did!" she commanded, trying to do what she had done. Instead of making wind, flames shot from her fingertips. She yelped, yanking her hand back. The flames died and she stared at her fingers, untouched by the flames heat. She sat down on a stump, trying her best to comprehend everything. The waves of dizziness that she had been fighting for as long as she was awake came crashing in on her, making her see double and causing her ears to ring.

She felt herself fall sideways, she didn't even mind when she hit the snow. As her vision when blurry, she saw Thomas coming out from behind a tree. But...it wasn't Thomas at all. Thomas didn't have a goat's butt.....Still puzzling this, everything went black.

* * *

Cold and wet again. Why was it every time she climbed out of the darkness, the first thing was cold and wet? Thank God it was only on her head this time, maybe a compress? Why did it smell of lavender? ...And fish?

"Must you go so soon, Tumnus?" asked a nice yet rough feminine voice as a tea-kettle whistled.

"I'm afraid so. The snow will start falling again shortly. And I dislike walking through drifts that are larger than I am."

There was laughter, a door creaked. Miranda sat up and opened her eyes.

The three beings there jumped at her sudden movement and Miranda stared at them. Two beavers and the thing...was it a centaur or a faun?...stared back at her. "Hello..."

"Wonderful, you're awake, I was starting to get worried!" exclaimed the beaver with the apron, bustling about and grabbing the kettle off of the fire. "What with that nasty bump on your head."

Miranda instantly felt her head, there was a bump, on the back of her head. "Must've happened when I fell..." she muttered, rubbing it. "Hurts like a bitch."

The male beaver chuckled as the faun closed the door again, his hoofs clacking on the floor. "I'll admit, some of the overprotective mothers have a nasty bite, but, really." The faun laughed quietly as well, giving Miranda a kind smile.

"That was quite a run from Jadis, miss." he said, adjusting the scarf about his neck. "You're quite lucky."

"You were watching?" Miranda asked, accepting the cup of ginger and chamomile tea from the lady beaver. The smell alone helped sooth the headache.

"Yes." He nodded at her. "She's now out for your blood, it would seem."

"Let her try." muttered Miranda, sipping her tea. "She won't spill it."

"You sound sure of yourself."

"I know how to stand up for myself."

"Standing up for yourself and angering the White Witch are two very separate things-"

"Tea, Mr. Tumnus?" interrupted the lady beaver just in time. "Dear," she directed at Miranda, "Toast?" Mr. Tumnus quietly accepted the cup as Miranda nodded.

"Yes, please. Just butter." she said when the lady held up a jar of jam. There was a silence for a few moments before the male piped up.

"What was your name?"

Miranda looked up. "Mira." That name again...Thomas was the only one who ever called her that. "Mira."

"Mira." repeated Tumnus with a nod.

"Tumnus." she said, taking the offered plate from the lady beaver. "And you?"

"Mrs. Beaver, dear." said the lady beaver with a bright smile, turning back to her own cup of tea. "And that is Mr. Beaver." Mira nodded at him as he gave her a whiskery smile.

"Where are you from, Mira? New to Narnia?"

Mira opened her mouth to answer, but couldn't remember where she _was_ from. She almost had a solid image, but just like smoke, it quickly faded. She grasped for a name, but it slipped away. She tried to even say a general location, but she didn't have a clue. "I...I don't really know." she was forced to say. "Somewhere far away I guess..."

"Oh, you poor thing." said Mrs. Beaver, gently patting Miranda's hand with her webbed paw. "Lost..."

"And with Jadis looking for her." Mr. Tumnus reminded everyone. "Most likely after her head, with what happened today."

The Beavers looked at each other. "We can't-"

"Not with-"

"And besides we have-"

"Yes, I suppose-"

"Never in my years-"

"Do you think-?

"Yes." They turned back to Mira. "You'll stay with us."

"I will?"

"We have an extra room that Mr. Beaver was using for storage space, but that can be cleared out easily enough."

"I don't want to impose-"

"Nonsense, it's snowing out there, the Witch will be out full-scale looking for you and you aren't exactly hard to miss." said Mr Beaver, looking pointedly at her skin. Miranda unconsciously covered her arms. "No, you'll stay here until you're safe or you can figure out where your home is."

Miranda sat there for a few moments as Tumnus agreed to give the Beavers constant updates about this White Witch's hunt for her. She didn't want to stay cooped up here, she wanted to get out and see where she was, see what she could do to go back and- ...why go back? She had done more today than she had done her whole life back where she had come from. What could be the harm with just...staying?

A crash from the fireplace snapped her out of her head. The tea-kettle had jumped out of it's hook and rolled back behind the fire; Mrs. Beaver couldn't reach it with the tongs. Without thinking, Miranda was up. She walked over, reached in and grabbed the kettle from the flames. Mrs. Beaver let out a terrified yell, Mr. Beaver grabbed a bucket of water, Mr. Tumnus ran to aid them but everyone stopped when glowing red streaks suddenly appeared in Mira's long black hair.

She dropped the tea kettle onto the table, her hands glowing slightly. Not from burns, but from her own fire about her hands. She quickly dunked her hands into the water in the bucket, her streaks fading as the steam issued from her hands.

"What in the name of Aslan was that?" breathed Mrs. Beaver, a webbed paw clutching her heart.

"I....I don't know..."


End file.
